Water lock for acetylene generators



April 25, 1933. H. WENDTLAND WATER LOCK FOR ACETYLENE GENERATORS Filed Aug. 5, 1951 pressure has disappeared, the pressure of Patented Apr. 25, 1933 ENT QFFICE:

HEINZ wnmi'rm m; or ALToNa-om'rHE-ELBE, 'GERMA NY 1 WATER LOCK iFOR ACETYLENE GENERATORS Application filed August a, 1 31, Serial No. 554,765. and m Germany li'ovember 18,.1929.

.I lliave filed applications in Germany "on the 18th November, 1929, (patent not yet granted) and on the 7th April, 1931; and in Great Britain on the 13th March, 1931.

locks of such generators which as is well known, are interposed between the acetylene generator proper and the point of consumption, for instance, the pipe leading to thej burners. The objectof the invention is to provide for increased safety agalnst a dangerous backflow of gas or oxygen through the water lock to the acetylene generator. With this object in v1ew,,t-he 1n? vention consists in the provision between the water lock and the acetylene enerator of an un-enclosed free standing safety or compensating receiver into which the water of the water lock is forced back whenever a back pressure occurs. Owing to the provision of this compensating or safetyreceiver the water ofthe water lock cannot esca e whenever a backflow occurs owing to t e back pressure and consequently. the water cannot be forced into the purifier or they acetylene generator proper. The safety container is of. sufiicient capacity to receive the whole of the water of the water lock.

the acetylene gas forces the water back into the'lock. The water lock and the safety receiver are preferably made of the same proportion of the diameter to thelen th' of the vessel being in each case 126. n the piping between the water lock and the safety receiver may be provided a nonreturn valve if needed. .VVith a sufliciently high gas pressure, this return valve may be dispensed with.

It may be pointed outthat the return valve does not by itself aiford'any safety against backfiow of the water from the lock towards the acetylene generator when ,a

back pressure.occurs, 'as'the inertia of the valve cone is too high to enable the valve to act with sufficient rapidlty- Moreover, the

shape and are preferably made tubular, the.

said valves are always liable to become [leaky are therefore not quite reliable inaction. The accompanying dra wing shows, by way of example,"three constructions embodying the features of the invention. 7

c Fig. 1 sh nyso'ne construction of the improved water'lock in sectional elevation in the normal working condition ofthe apparams. v v v c Fig. 2 shows the same construction after a -bac'ktlow of the water has occurred owing to back pressure.

F 3 shows in sectional elevation a simplified construction in the normal working condition of the water lock, and Fig. 4 is a sectional elevationcorresponding to Fig. 3 showing the Waterv forced back into the safety container. i

Fig. 5 shows in sectional elevation a construction in which. the water lock is arranged above the safety receiver. 7 c

A water lock container a is provided in usual manner with 'a water lever control valve 6, a gas delivery valve 0, a filling opening at which is closed in knownmanner by means of a m'etal' diaphragm designed to burst'at a CBItaIIIj maximum interior excess pressure. In the bottom offthe container 0: is provided a gas inlet valve e which controls the opening of a pipe f connecting the bottom of the container a with the bottom of the safety or compensating container g. The container 9 isprovidedwitha gas inlet pipe h which projects from the top of the container 9 into its interior. The exit opening offthe pipe 71.- is controlled by a float operated valve z", this'valve being always openduring normal operation. In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the float valve 11 is omitted and thegas inlet pipe h does, not project into the interior of the container g. r H

In the construction shown in Fig. 5, the safety containerfg is arranged abovethe I water lock container a and there is no float valve in'the safety container.

The operation isv as follows Should any explosive gas mixture flow back through the delivery va-lve 0' into thecontainer (1, a part or the whole of the water 50 comprising in combination: a closed shows that whenever a rapid back pressure occurs a substantial amount of water will 19 pass through the valve 6. It will be understood that a flame cannot-flash back through the water into the container 9 and thus endanger the acetylene generator." As soon as, after a back flash, the burner is opened again, the mixture which has collected in the water lock container escapes first, and the water is then forced back from the safety container into the water .lock so that the latter will again work with the 1 2 retkuired waterlevel.

he provision of the safety container 9 absolutely revents water reaching the pipe h. Should in the construction according to Figs. 3, 4 or 5, owing to an accident, a substantial quantity of oxygen be' forced through the water lock into the acetylene generator, there will be no danger of explosion, as the mixture formed will be innocuous and will immediately after the removal of the'disturbing factors flow back into the water lock and escape therefrom. It will thus be seen that any back pressure caused by an explosion can never become dangerous, as the water lockwill always contain water, there being no possibility of the water being entirely forced out and lost. Another advantage is dueto the fact that any damage or deformation of the-apparatus will be immediately noticeable owing to the fact that the containers stand entirely free and are easy of access and inspection. Water locks having telescopically arranged tubes orpipes do not present this advantage.

The present application'is a continuation in part of my co-pending patent application, Serial 'No. 531,139 filed on the 18th April, 1931. V

I claim:' v 1. A water lock for acetylene generators,

container which is normally partly filled with water and isprovided with a gas delivery port arranged above the water level, said container constituting the water lock proper; a second closed container whichis normally empty; and a pipe connected atone end to the bottom of said first named container and at the other end to the bottom of said second 7 container, said-secondconta'iner being provided with an inlet for gas and being adapted'to receive water displaced by a back pressure from said first named container, sub: stantially as described. r i

2. Af'water lock for acetylene generators,

comprising in combination: a first container which, during normal working operations, is always partly filled with water forming the water lock, and is. provided at its top with a gas delivery valve and at its bottom with a non-return valve; a second container which is of approximately the same volume as said first container and is empty during normal working operations; a pipe connected at one end to the bottom of said first named container and at the other end to the bottom-of said second container; a gas inlet pipe leading from the top into said second container; and a float controlled valve for controlling said gas inlet pipe, whereby water displaced byback pressure from said first named container is prevented from enterin'g'the gas inlet pipe of said second container, substantially as described.

3. Awater lock for acetylene generators,

comprising in combination: a first container,

which, during normal working 0 erations is always partly filled with water orming the waterlock; a gas delivery valve at the top of said container; a non-return valve in the bottom of said container; a second container which is of 'approximatelythe samevolume as the first container and is empty during normal working operations; a communication pipe connected at one end to the bottom of one of said containers and at the other is always partly filled with water forming the water lock; a gas delivery valve at the top of said container; a non-return valve in the bottom of said container; a second container which is of approximately-the same volume as the first container and is empty during normal working operations; acommunication pipe connected at one end to the bottom of said first named container and at the other end to the bottom of said second container; at gas inlet pipe leading from the topbfthe second container into the interior of said container; float controlled valve means for controlling the lower end of said gas inlet pipe, and a check valve for checking the water level in the first named container, substantially as described.

5. A water lock for acetylene generators, comprising in combination: a first vertical tubular, container which, during normal working operations is always partly filled with'water; a gas delivery valve arran ed at the top of said container; a closable filling opening at the top of said container closed by means of a safety diaphra m; a check valve on said container for checking the water level; a nonreturn water valve innthe bottom of said container; a second, vertical tubular container which is arranged by the side of the first named container and is empty during normal working operations, Said second container having approximately the same volume as said first named container; a communication pipe connected at one end to the bottom of said first named 1 container and at the other end to the bottom of said second container; a gas inlet pipe passing from the top of the second container into the interior, the lower end of the pipe being located approximately at the same level as the water level in the first r container; and float controlled valve means for closing the lower end of said gas inlet pipe, substantially as described.

6. A water lock for acetylene generators, 2 comprising in combination: a water lock container which, during normal working operations is always partly filled with water; means for delivering gas from said container located above the water level; a sec- 0nd container which is of approximately the same volume as said first container and is empty during normal working operations; means for admitting gas to the top of said second container; a communication pipe connected at one end to the lower portion of said water lock container and at the other end to the lower portion of said second container; and a non-return valve in the bottom of said first container, substantially as described.

7. A water lock for acetylene generators, comprising in combination: a tubular water lock container which, during normal working operations is always partly filled with-water; a gas exit arranged above the water level in said container; a second tu bular container which is arranged above said first named container and is empty during normal working operations, said second container having approximately the same volume as said water lock container; a communication pipe connected at one end to the bottom of said water lock container and at the other end to the bottom of said second container; a gas inlet arranged in the upper portion of said second container, and a non-return valve arranged in the bottom of the first container, substantially as described. Signed at Hamburg, Germany, this 20th day of July 1931.

HEINZ WENDTLAND. 

